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The co-financing facility “European Financing Partners “(EFP) has been launched in Paris. EFP combines the capital (€140mn), knowledge and experience of European development banks for investments in private sector projects in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. This agreement was signed by Michael Tutty, vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), R Michael Barth, CEO of FMO as well as the chairman of the supervisory board of the cooperative of European development banks (EDFI) and by his fellow EDFI directors.

“EFP combines the strengths of the most important European players in the field of development finance,” says Barth. “EIB has provided a large portion of the investment capital and as a representative of the European Union it also adds political clout. The EDFI partners have substantial experience and an enormous network in these countries, essential to identifying appropriate projects. This cooperation creates new opportunities for the private sector in these regions.”

EFP can match or even triple the investments of the EDFIs for a maximum of €25mn per financing. In particular, this will deal with larger infrastructure projects such as power plants, harbours, railways and telecommunications, but a credit line for a local bank is also one of the possibilities. With a contribution of €90mn, the EIB is the largest financier of the facility. The four largest EDFIs – CDC (UK), DEG (Germany), FMO and Proparco (France) – are each to provide €10mn. BIO (Belgium) and FinnFund (Finland) are both contributing €5mn.